TomTom-Tools GmbH

Zelgli 20
8905 Arni info@tomtom-tools.com
Switzerland www.tomtom-tools.com

User Manual
Version March 12, 2021

Thrust Load Meter

Part of Mechanical Kiln Monitoring System (MKM2)

1 INTRODUCTION
The Thrust Load Meter is part of the new MKM2 and
is used to monitor the axial load on support rollers on
rotary kilns or dryers. It helps to easily identify axially
high loaded rollers and to counteract timely with
adequate adjustment, the so-called roller skewing.

The Thrust Load Meter is an ultra-precise

inclinometer which is specially made for the
application on large bearing housings as on rotary kilns. The sensor simply needs to be
bolted to the bearing housing without opening it. The output signal can be connected to the
plant control system for continuous trending of the readings.

Measuring Principle
The axial load, the thrust load, coming from the kiln tires needs to be taken by the bearings
of the support rollers. The axial load slightly deforms the bearing housing and tilts them to the
side. This movement is very small, but big enough to be measured by the Thrust Load Meter.
By comparing the different rollers, the one with the higher or lower load can be identified
easily, which helps to adjust the skewing properly in a way that the load gets shared among
all the support rollers evenly.

Fig. 1.0.1
Thrust Load Meter
on bearing
of support roller 0.2 0 0.2mm/m
- +

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2 SAFETY
Rotary kilns and dryers, where this system typically is used, are huge rotating equipment with
many pinch points and hot surfaces which can cause serious injuries. Therefore, only
specialized and trained personnel shall work close to these machines. For installation, follow
strictly the local safety rules given by the respective plant / factory / local authorities and
discuss the application with the safety engineer in charge.
The tools provided by TomTom-Tools GmbH have proven their functionality in various
applications; nevertheless TomTom-Tools GmbH does not take any responsibility for the
application on site regarding safety or machine damage. The plant is responsible for the
safety, according to the local law, in a way that nobody can be hurt or injured. The
application and safety instructions below are guidelines and not exhausted which include the
experience from previous installations. They might need to be adapted to the local
circumstances and safety requirements.

Caution:
Pinch Points:
Do not put your hands nor any items close or into pinch points.
(e.g. girth gear / pinion, kiln tires / support rollers, …)
Keep safe distance to avoid getting caught by moving parts
(e.g. switch flags on kiln shell and tires)

Magnetic Fields:
The magnets attached to some of the components are strong.
Be aware of the strong magnetic fields.
Keep the tool away from people with pace makers or any other sensitive
item as credit cards or magnetic data carrier.

Hot Surfaces:
The kiln might be very hot, especially the shell of the kiln.
Do not touch it and keep safe distance.

Gloves:
Wear proper gloves to protect your hands from hot and rough surfaces
and sharp edges.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
2 SAFETY ......................................................................................................................... 2
3 FEATURES: ................................................................................................................... 3
4 WHAT BEARING TYPES CAN BE MONITORED? ........................................................ 4
4.1 Only one bearing of each pair is taking axial load .................................................... 4
4.2 Thrust Load Meter is not suitable for moveable support rollers................................ 5
4.3 The thrust cannot be measured on combined bearings ........................................... 5
5 THRUST LOAD METER ON FIXED THRUST ROLLERS .............................................. 6
5.1 Thrust Rollers with high pedestals ........................................................................... 6
5.2 Short Thrust Rollers ................................................................................................ 6
6 MOUNTING.................................................................................................................... 7
6.1 Location .................................................................................................................. 7
6.2 Bolting ..................................................................................................................... 7
7 WIRING.......................................................................................................................... 8
7.1 Power Supply .......................................................................................................... 8
7.2 Signal Output .......................................................................................................... 8
8 WORKING RANGE ADJUSTMENT ............................................................................... 9
9 CONFIGURATION ........................................................................................................10
9.1 Linearization of Output Signal ................................................................................10
9.2 Change Counting Direction ....................................................................................10
9.3 Sampling Rate........................................................................................................10
9.4 Filter .......................................................................................................................11
10 ZERO POINT ADJUSTMENT........................................................................................11
11 DRAWINGS ..................................................................................................................12
11.1 Thrust Load Meter without heat shield ....................................................................12
11.2 Thrust Load Meter with heat shield.........................................................................12

3 FEATURES:
• Measures the tilting of the bearing housing, due to the side load, in mm/m (‰)
• Measurement range: -2.9…0…+2.9mm/m
• Value directly visible on the display and provided as analog output signal 4…20mA
• Very low temperature drift
• Adjustable measurement range to fit for bearings with different load behaviors
• Micro screw to adjust the sensor to the inclination of the kiln / dryer
• Strong housing to be suitable for the rough environment

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4 WHAT BEARING TYPES CAN BE MONITORED?

In general, it can be used on all bearing housings of support rollers, which tilt / deflect slightly
due to side loads. On rotary kilns and dryers, that includes most of the bearings, regardless if
they are made as slide bearings or bearings with rolling elements. Nevertheless, the
following points need to be considered:

4.1 Only one bearing of each pair is taking axial load

There exist different designs of support roller assemblies. They use different ways to resist
axial forces. But on all of them, only one of the two bearings is taking the axial load. Hence
only one Thrust Load Meter per roller is required to monitor the load, but it has to be assured
that it gets installed on the loaded bearing.
The following sketches show the most common designs where the location of the Thrust
Load Meter is indicated with the following symbol:

a. Axially loaded bearing at uphill side:

Fig. 4.1.1 Thrust Disc is attached to the shaft end
Load
Gap

b. Axially loaded bearing at downhill side:

Fig. 4.1.2 Fig. 4.1.3
Thrust Collar is located close to the roller Shaft runs against Thrust Disk in housing

Gap Load Gap Load

Note: Whenever possible look for the gap on the thrust shoulder to know which bearing
takes axial load.

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4.2 Thrust Load Meter is not suitable for moveable support rollers
A small number of kilns is equipped with special support roller arrangements to improve the
load distribution between the rollers and the tire; these rollers are following the wobbling of
the tire. The movement, in this case, is much larger than the tilting of the bearing housing
due to side load. That is why the Thrust Load Meter is not suitable on these systems, it would
rather show the consequence of the wobble instead of the axial load.

Fig. 4.2.1 Fig. 4.2.2

“Semi-Rigid” Support Roller “Self-Aligning” Support Roller
(supported on elastomer elements) (supported on a rocking structure)

4.3 The thrust cannot be measured on combined bearings

There exist support roller assemblies, where both bearings are incorporated into one single
housing. This design has the advantage that the bores of the bearings are always nicely
matching, but the axial load can not be measured by the Thrust Load Meter due the high
stiffness of the housing.

Fig. 4.3.1 Combined Bearing Housing Design

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5 THRUST LOAD METER ON FIXED THRUST ROLLERS

Modern rotary kilns are equipped with hydraulic thrust rollers where the hydraulic pressure
indicates the load which is easily measurable. But older kilns or smaller units sometimes
have fixed thrust rollers without the possibility to monitor the load. Here the Thrust Load
Meter might be useful too; depending on the stiffness of the roller pedestals.

5.1 Thrust Rollers with high pedestals

On thrust rollers which flex slightly due to the forces from the tire, the Thrust Load Meter can
be used to monitor the load changes. It has to be attached to the upper part of the pedestal
to catch the deflection behavior properly. Usually only the lower thrust roller needs to be
monitored, because the upper roller should not get loaded much.

Fig. 5.1.1 Thrust Load Meter on Thrust Roller

Gap Load

Thrust Roller

Thrust Load Meter

5.2 Short Thrust Rollers

Thrust rollers which are mounted close to the foundation will not get tilted sufficiently by the
side load, hence the Thrust Load Meter can not be used in this case.

Fig. 5.1.1 Short / Stiff Thrust Roller Arrangement

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6 MOUNTING

6.1 Location
The Thrust Load Meter is water and dust tight, and made to be placed close to the kiln.
Nevertheless, make sure it is not exposed directly to the radiation from the kiln nor to direct
sunlight. The sun would change the temperature which might result in misleading cyclic
temperature drift between day and night. Therefore, install the heat shield if needed.

Fig. 6.1.1 Top Mounting

Heat Shield
for protection against
sunlight and heat
radiation from the kiln

Optional Spacers
for mounting between
the bolt heads

6.2 Bolting
The Thrust Load Meter must be connected firmly with the bearing housing, to make sure that
it does not change its position over time nor if it gets hit accidently. Preferable use two M10
bolts, drilled into the bearing housing.

Note: For quick installation (e.g. for trials) the Thrust Load Meter can also be attached by
strong magnets to the bearing housing.

Fig. 6.2.1
Front mounting

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Adjustment Screw Bolts to open “Set 0” Button

(below plug) the front Cover (below plug)

M12 Connector Display Mounting holes

Fig. 6.2.2 Front View

7 WIRING
The Thrust Load Meter is equipped with a M12 connector (A-coded, male)
in accordance with IEC 61076-2-101.

Pinout:
Pin No. 1 2 3 4 (optional) 5 (optional)
Color Brown (BN) White (WH) Blue (BU) Black (BK) Grey (GY)
Assignment Power (+) Analog GND Error / OK Shell Pace / Set Zero
12…30VDC Output Signal Output Signal Input Signal
4…20mA 12…30VDC 12…30VDC

Fig. 7.0.1: M12 connector

7.1 Power Supply

The power consumption of the Thrust Load Meter is less than 0.1A. Hence only one single
24VDC (1A) power source is sufficient for all the Thrust Load Meters on most of the kilns.

7.2 Signal Output

The measured inclination value which is shown in the display is provided via wire 2 (white) as
an analog output signal (4…20mA).
The range and the direction of counting can be adjusted to the specific load behavior of the
bearings on kiln. (see chapter Configuration)

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8 WORKING RANGE ADJUSTMENT

The high precision inclinometer in the Thrust Load meter has a limited measuring range,
which is less than the slope of the kiln; hence it needs to be adjusted after mounting, to work
properly. When the sensor is out of range, it is indicated on the display by showing “OUT”.

Fig. 8.0.1 Display when sensor is out of range

OUT
Compensating the slope and bringing the sensor into its range, is done with the Adjustment
Screw below the plug, in the following way:

1. Open the two plugs to get access to the Adjustment Screw and the “set 0” button
2. Untighten the Lock Nut on the adjustment screw
by using the 10mm tubular box spanner
3. Push the “Set 0” button for more than 5 sec
The display starts blinking, which indicates that it shows the pure sensor value
without any offset coming from the signal treatment.
4. Turn the Adjustment Screw with the 3mm Allan key
to bring the display to zero (or close to zero)
5. Lock the adjustment screw with the lock nut
6. Note: Now would be the time to neutralize the axial load on the bearing to adjust the
zero point. This is not so easily and quickly done that is why we skip that step for the
moment and come back to the topic later in chapter 10 “Zero Point Adjustment”.
(The assistance of a kiln specialist might be required for Point 6)
7. Push the “Set 0” button for 1 sec, the display will stop blinking and the possibly
remaining small offset will be set to zero. The Thrust Load Meter is working now
properly and will show the axial load changes, but the value is not representing the
absolute load, because we skipped point 6 for the moment
8. Close both plugs to avoid dust and water entering the housing

Fig. 8.0.2 Front view with open plug

Allan Key
(3mm)

“Set 0“ Button
Fig. 8.0.3 Top view with open plug

Adjustment Screw Lock Nut Tubular Box Spanner

(10mm)
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9 CONFIGURATION
To optimize the way of working of the Thrust Load Meter, some parameter can be
configured. For that the front cover needs to be opened with a Torx screw driver (TX15).
Attention: Open the cover carefully to avoid damaging the fine ribbon cable going from the
circuit board to the inclination sensor.

Fig. 9.0.1: Ribbon Cable

Back side of circuit board (Sensor Connection)

Rotary Switch UP DOWN

(Parameter Selection)

Normal operation: rotary switch position "0"

9.1 Linearization of Output Signal 0.1

Some bearing arrangements are quite flexible, other stiffer; hence they behave differently
under load. To get the output signal (4…20mA) covering the range of the expected
deflection, the linearization can be adjusted accordingly in the following way:

1. Turn the rotary switch to position 1

2. Adjust the linearization by pushing the UP or DOWN button (0.1…0.4 mm/m/mA)
Setting [mm/m/mA] 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Measurement Range [mm/m] -0.8…+0.8 -1.6…+1.6 -2.4…+2.4 -3.2…+3.2
Output Signal [mA] 4…20 4…20 4…20 4…20

9.2 Change Counting Direction -0.1

When Thrust Load Meters are installed on both sides of the kiln, the orientation is mirrored.
To get from both side of the kiln the output signal in the same manner, the counting direction
can be inverted by entering negative Linearization values.
Setting [mm/m/mA] -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4
Measurement Range [mm/m] +0.8…-0.8 +1.6…-1.6 +2.4…-2.4 +3.2…-3.2
Output Signal [mA] 4…20 4…20 4…20 4…20

9.3 Sampling Rate 10

The sampling rate of the inclination sensor can be changed as follows:
1. Turn the rotary switch to position 2
2. Adjust the sampling rate by pushing the UP or DOWN button (2, 5, 10, 20 Hz)

As the kilns are slow rotating machines, the default sampling rate of 10Hz should be
sufficient, hence there is usually no need to change the sampling rate.

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9.4 Filter 60
The Thrust Load Meter is equipped with a filter function to smoothen the output signal. Signal
smoothing is usually required, because disturbances are overlaying the measurement.
Disturbances can be for example:
• Wobbling of kiln tire
• Variation in friction factor due to oil on the roller and tire surfaces
• Crank in the kiln shell, which changes the load on the support rollers

The signal smoothing is based on a floating average filter. It can be adjusted as follows:
1. Turn the rotary switch to position 3
2. Adjust the length / duration (sec.) of the floating average widow by pushing the UP or
DOWN button (1…120sec), The example above shows 60sec. (default: 1sec.)
3. When the filter value is set to “0”, the value is updated with the sampling rate of the
sensor as described in chapter 9.3
4. When the filter value is set to “PACE” (1 step below 0) the floating average window
will adjust automatically to the rotation speed of the kiln. For that mode, the shell pace
signal needs to be fed to pin 5 (grey wire). The shell pace signal is one pulse
(24VDC) per kiln turn, typically coming from an inductive sensor. For more
information about the pace sensor, please contact TomTom-Tools.

10 ZERO POINT ADJUSTMENT

To get absolute and comparable values, the zero point needs to be defined. That means the
display has to show zero when the axial load is zero. To eliminate temporarily the axial load
on the support rollers, while the kiln is rotating, the following ways are usually used:
a. Apply soap to the roller surface:
Hold a soap stone against the roller surface; it reduces drastically the friction factor
between the tire and the roller, hence the axial load is significantly reduced. This
method is not very precise but very simple and quick. It is usually meant to check if
the Trust Load Meters are working.
b. Neutralize the roller skewing (recommended):
Move the support roller in a way that the skewing changes and the normally loaded
bearing has no axial load anymore until a gap opens on the thrust collar. Move for
this exercise only the bearing housing where no Thrust Load Meter is installed, to
avoid any influence to the measurement due to the movements.
c. Use hydraulic device to unload the thrust shoulder
For some bearing types, a hydraulic device is available, provided by the kiln
manufacturer, to unload the thrust shoulder temporarily. It can be used for this
calibration purpose as well.

When you have reached the neutral roller position, or even slight negative force, perform the
following steps:
1. Open the plug on the Thrust Load Meter to get access to the “Set 0” button
2. Push it for >5 sec, the display is blinking, double check if you are still close to zero
3. Push the “Set 0” button (short) and the display is set to zero
4. If a roller was moved, move the bearing back to get some skewing
5. Make sure that on all the support rollers similar skewing is applied and that the
pressure of the hydraulic thrust roller stays in normal operating range

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11 DRAWINGS

11.1 Thrust Load Meter without heat shield

11.2 Thrust Load Meter with heat shield

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